I have spent the greater part of my free time this summer
and fall speaking to groups and anyone who would listen about the horrible
constitutional amendment on voter suppression we here in Minnesota will have on
our ballots on November 6.

Much of the attention in Minnesota has been on the "Marriage
Amendment," an admitted
attempt by some in the Republican legislature that it was added simply to
"turn out the base" of the Republican Party in November. Minnesota already has a law that makes it
illegal for same-sex couples to marry. So even if the Marriage Amendment fails, there is no real gain in civil
rights for same-sex couples in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

With so much national attention (rightly so) focused on
voter ID laws in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as voter purges, reduced
voting hours (Ohio) and all the new Jim Crow laws permeating our country in the
21st century, Minnesota's voter suppression law has flown under the
radar both in the state and at the national level. Remember, Minnesota -- Al Franken and Mark
Dayton? Two recent major elections that
withstood the scrutiny of a hand recount without either side EVER alleging
voter fraud.

A brief summary of where we are on this voter suppression
amendment:

Vote No in Minnesota by Our Future Our Vote

Minnesota, which has led the nation in voter turnout for
years, will be faced with implementing an entirely new voting system if this
"voter ID" amendment passes. Similar to
other states, Minnesota's house and senate flipped Republican in 2010. However, Mark Dayton, a Democrat, was elected
governor. In addition to the Republican
legislature shutting down the state government in 2011, they also by-passed the
governor's veto of a photo ID law and went the route of putting it on the
ballot as a constitutional amendment.

The author of this amendment? None other than former Minnesota Republican
Secretary of State and state American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
chairperson Mary
Kiffmeyer. And oh, how skilled she
is at manipulation and in understanding the ALEC and Karl Rove rules: Dumb It Down. Confuse The Voter. Play To People's Fear. For anyone who has paid attention to the
voter ID laws that spread like wildfire across the country after 2010, we don't
have to connect the dots between ALEC-sponsored "cut and paste" legislation.

The ballot language is a simple two sentence statement that
asks if the constitution should be amended so that all voters would have to
present "valid photo ID' before voting. Nowhere will voters see the impact of
what happens if this amendment passes. Gone will be Minnesota's same day registration, which accounted for more
than 500,000 voters in 2008. Gone will
be absentee voting, as we know it. And
the cost of implementing this whole new system will fall on Minnesota property
tax owners, as this amendment is an unfunded mandate.

Minnesota runs the risk of becoming only the second state in
the nation to put voter restriction in its constitution. Mississippi being the other. We run the risk of going from being the state
with the highest turnout in the nation to a state that mirrors
Mississippi.

Former Republican Governor Arne Carlson (god bless him) has
been expending all of his energy canvasing the state urging people to Vote
No. In summer, he joined with former
Vice President Walter Mondale and Independent Party favorite Tim Penny to blast
those who put this on the ballot.

Earlier this year, the polling "in favor" of voter ID was as
high as 80 percent. Today, after massive
efforts to educate Minnesotans about what this amendment really does, the
approval rating is in the low 50s as we approach election day.

More than 60 newspapers throughout the state -- ranging from
local weekly papers to the Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) have come out against the
amendment. One of the state Supreme
Court justices called it "bait
and switch" and another voiced concern over whether the amendment is
constitutional. Yes, the Koch Brothers
and ALEC have turned the world so upside down, that we here in Minnesota are
being asked to amend our constitution with something that may ultimately be
unconstitutional.

I urge anyone who reads this and lives in Minnesota or knows
someone who lives in Minnesota to go to or urge them to go to the League of Women Voters web
site. They have done an outstanding job
trying to educate the public on the appalling impacts that this ALEC-funded
amendment would create.

Another outstanding video put out by Election Protection
sums it up below.

The imprint of ALEC and the Koch Brothers is everywhere
across this country. We here in
Minnesota have a chance to stop them from sending us back to Jim Crow days of
voter suppression. As you await
Tuesday's national outcome, keep your eyes focused on us here in Minnesota to
find out how this amendment passage turns out.

www.WisdomVoices.com

Joanne Boyer is founder and editor of Wisdom Voices Press and www.WisdomVoices.com. Her first book is "Wisdom of Progressive Voices." Joanne has worked in professional communications for more than 30 years. Her career includes being the first (more...)